This invention relates to the removal of garden plants or seedlings from plastic trays. More specifically, it deals with a simple system by which young plants or seedlings can be lifted without the soil bases crumbling or the roots or flowers being damaged.
Young garden plants are typically displayed and sold to customers in plastic containers. Those containers are sometimes individual units. More often, they are removably linked together (e.g, by scored or perforated tabs) to form a chain of cell packs. The chain can be broken anywhere along its length. That enables a user to purchase only the amount desired.
Cell packs assist customers, but they present multiple problems for retailers. Customers often leave displays in disarray, upon breaking off a string of such packs. This gives the impression that the plants are not being attended to or nourished. Constant maintenance is required to keep the displays attractive so that customers will purchase items from them.
The following illustrates a typical scene at garden centers: a novice gardener spots the orange marigolds she has been looking for in the retailer""s just stocked plant display. As she reaches in to break off the desired xe2x80x9cchain amountxe2x80x9d of packs, her handbag dangles from her arm, snapping blooms from the adjacent flat of plants. The desired string of packs resists breaking loose from the remainder of the chain in the flat. Finally it rips loose, pulling two or more packs up, out of the flat, left lying askew against some more broken marigolds.
The problem does not stop there| Our novice gardener now is home ready to plant her orange marigolds. She is afraid to pull hard on the plants to extract them from the cells: they may break. Pushing from the bottom of a cell causes the plastic frame to wrinkle. Finally she goes inside, gets a pair of scissors and snips the plastic from around the plant.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a system of plant trays that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.
It is another general object to provide a simple system of plastic trays, with different plant counts, by which young plants or seedlings can be removed or lifted without the soil bases crumbling or the roots or flowers being damaged.
It is a more specific object to provide such a system with pull-out tabs to gently lift the plants from their individual cells.
It is yet another object to provide a series of trays, commensurate with the above-listed objects, that are identical in width and length to assist retailers in maintaining the ordered appearance of displays.
A unique system of plant trays is disclosed for the easy removal of plants or seedlings without the soil bases crumbling or the roots or flowers being damaged. In the preferred embodiment, the trays are plastic. They are constant in overall width and length; but, they contain different numbered cells to house multiple counts of various sized plants. For example, a four-cell tray (a.k.a. xe2x80x9cpackxe2x80x9d), constructed in accordance with this invention, houses four plants that are proportionally larger than the smaller plants housed in a six-pack.
Each tray has multiple rows of cells. Pull-out ribbon-like tabs are located under the plants housed in the cells. Each tab is removably attached, at one end, to a wall of the tray, while the other tab end extends freely over an opposing wall. A user can remove a plant from a cell for potting or planting by lifting the free end. This gently pops up the plant with minimal damage.
The trays also preferably have different colored handles that identify the sizes of the plants housed, plus their prices. Each handle has a ruler on its reverse side to assist the user in planting the seedlings the appropriate distance apart in his/her garden.
The above and other objects and advantages may become more readily apparent upon viewing the accompanying drawings and reading the more detailed description that follows.